Play Online Poker with Bitcoin

Over the last few years, Bitcoin poker sites have been popping up across the Internet. These establishments offer card games such as Seven Card Stud and Texas Hold’em. Additionally, they offer an option for making deposits and withdrawals.

For those who are unfamiliar with Bitcoin, this article is meant to serve as an introduction to what you can expect.

What’s a Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a digital currency that’s available to the public and can be traded without the involvement of any government or banking institution. These coins can be purchased at places known as exchanges, and they’re kept in a virtual wallet and accessed with a verification code.

How to set up a Bitcoin account in 4 easy steps

Setting up a bitcoin wallet and making a deposit takes a few easy steps. Below is a step-by-step guide to set up a Bitcoin account for online and mobile poker. Bitcoin account setup is a one-time process. Once it’s done, you’ll have access to the easiest way to pay for Internet poker.

Choose a Bitcoin Wallet: A bitcoin wallet is a service which holds your bitcoin until you spent them. It’s like a web wallet or online bank. Breadwallet, Mycelium, and Copay are examples of top bitcoin wallets. Mycelium or Copay is our recommendation for Android users, while Breadwallet or Copay is our choice for iPhone or iPad users.

Buy Bitcoin at an Exchange: Once you have a bitcoin wallet, go to a regulated bitcoin exchange to buy bitcoins quickly, easily, and safely. Make your purchase with a credit card, debit card, or bank account. BetOnline recommends players go to CoinChapter, which has links to 32 regulated bitcoin exchanges.

Send Bitcoin to Your Wallet: Once you buy bitcoin, send them to your wallet. Click “Send Bitcoin” in your exchange account. When prompted, type your wallet address into the input field and click “Send”. Some exchanges ask for your wallet address before making a purchase.

Fund Your Poker Account: Now that you have virtual money in your bitcoin wallet, make a deposit in your online poker account. If you don’t have a casino account, sign up with a 5-minute registration process, which incurs no obligation. Funding your poker account with bitcoin is the safest, fastest, and most private way to make online poker deposits and withdrawals.

How to Buy and Sell Bitcoins

In order for a customer to buy or sell bitcoins, a complex mathematical code must first be resolved. Such efforts are handled by people known as Bitcoin miners. These tech-savvy men and women receive new coins for helping the system function. This process ensures security, and it’s allowed the service to avoid any major hacking incidents.

Like any commodity, the value of an individual bitcoin can fluctuate on a daily basis. Production of the currency is designed to halt when the number of coins reaches 21 million, and a recent count found almost 15,500,000 currently in existence. While most of these are in active circulation, some are dormant because users lost their unique password and can no longer access them.

Poker Sites that Accept Bitcoin

Bitcoin is the future of online poker payments, due to its combination of security, privacy, and speed. The best bitcoin poker sites in the United States gaming market need to have several traits. First, the card site needs to support high limit bitcoin deposits and withdrawals. Second, an online poker room needs to make linking with your bitcoin wallet easy and instantaneous. The sites we suggest each have bitcoin tutorials with recommendations for bitcoin wallets while offering information on dozens of bitcoin exchanges.

Playing poker with bitcoin makes the most sense because bitcoin deposits and withdrawals are free and virtually instantaneous. Within minutes, money appears in your bitcoin wallet, whether you use the Breadwallet, Mycelium, or Copay wallet. Because these transactions use blockchain technology, identity thieves have no opportunity to steal your financial information. Bitcoin poker sites, therefore, protect your anonymity and hard-won poker winnings.

Recommended Bitcoin Poker Site for US Players – Bovada Poker

Bovada Poker is our recommended bitcoin poker site for US players. Bovada occupies a special place in American poker history, as it has been in the online poker industry since 1994. Bovada offers one-stop gambling services, including an online casino, sportsbook, racebook, and live/in-play betting.

Card players might not think those other gaming options affect them, but it means the poker tables are full of fish from the other sections of Bovada.

We recommend Bovada Poker as a bitcoin poker site because Bovada checks every box when it comes to a top online poker site. The Bovada/Bodog brand was one of the first US-friendly online poker sites with bitcoin, so it has a store of trust and familiarity that US players want. Among the American poker sites accepting bitcoin, it provides the best combination of customer support, game opportunities, and technical support. Bovada allows real money gamblers to play bitcoin poker at many different bet levels, with a large array of freezeouts, rebuy events, sit’n go’s, and turbo events. Bovada is one of the top online poker rooms to play at.

Recommended Offshore Bitcoin Poker Site – BetOnline Poker

BetOnline Poker is an online bitcoin poker site which accepts Americans, but it has an international community of card players. BetOnline launched in 2004 as a sportsbook, but the owners launched BetOnline Poker in 2011 as a sister site.

The late launch of BetOnline Poker means it is one of the poker sites that accept bitcoin because its gaming platform was designed at a later date with more technically sophisticated software. Unlike other latecomers among the bitcoin poker sites reviews you might read, BetOnline is tied to an old brand known for reliability and quick payouts.

BetOnline Poker’s $1,000 bitcoin bonus might not be as much as Bovada Poker’s bitcoin bonus, but players can satisfy the wagering requirements while playing Texas Hold’em, Omaha, or a variety of other poker variants. The $25,000 max bitcoin deposit means it’s a favorite with international high rollers and premium players because BetOnline handles more action than many competitors. Among the offshore bitcoin online poker sites which accepts US players, BetOnline Poker offers the best all-around package of games, bonuses, rewards, bitcoin payouts, and customer service.

Please note that most online poker rooms and casinos have added Bitcoin as an option alongside credit cards and e-wallets. There are, however, some sites that only accept bitcoins as a valid form of currency.

Bitcoin Poker Sites vs. Regular Poker Sites

There are only a couple of differences between funding your account with bitcoins and other forms of currency. First, deposits and withdrawals happen almost immediately. The current value of a coin determines the number of chips you’ll receive.

If you’re playing at a Bitcoin-only poker room, you may also notice that the standard sign-up method is different. Instead of being asked to provide your real name and bank account information, you’ll often be able to create an account with just a username and password.

Otherwise, a poker room that accepts Bitcoin looks the same as any other site. The graphics are identical, the players are diverse, and the winnings are just as real.

How to Make a Bitcoin Deposit at a Poker Site

Making a Bitcoin deposit on a poker site can be done in 3 steps.

Create a wallet

Chose Bitcoin as your method of payment on the cashier option

Chose a Bitcoin deposit option

The following video gives you more detail on how to make a Bitcoin poker site deposits:

Advantages & Disadvantages of Playing Online Bitcoin Poker

If you’re still unsure about using Bitcoin, I’ve put together some pros and cons in this section. Hopefully, these facts can help you make up your mind.

Reasons to Use Bitcoin

Anonymous Accounts – As mentioned earlier, some Bitcoin gambling sites allow you to sign up without requiring personal details such as your name or bank account information.

Increased Value of Winnings – Since the worth of an individual bitcoin fluctuates, the value of your poker room account can actually increase over time.

Transaction Speed – Withdrawals are processed much faster than traditional methods such as credit cards or wire transfers.

Increased Rakeback – Sites sometimes offer to return a certain amount of entry fees in order to keep players happy. On average, poker sites using bitcoins are more generous when it comes to this practice.

More Inexperienced Players – Also known as fish, these novice players are more common at sites accepting bitcoins.

Reasons to Avoid Bitcoin

Lack of Regulation – Some sites that specialize in Bitcoin gambling aren’t regulated by the usual jurisdictions. This lack of oversight could result in sketchy business practices, although no major scandals have occurred as of this writing.

Lack of Government Backing – Nations are in a habit of protecting their financial institutions, but Bitcoin has no such backing. If some catastrophe were to occur, it’s possible that all your coins could become worthless overnight.

Fluctuating Value – While this can also be a strength given the upward trend in the value of bitcoins, there’s no guarantee that the currency won’t eventually hit a rough patch and leave investors with far less than they started with.

The Law Still Applies – Since Bitcoin is a commodity, various anti-gaming laws may still apply based on where you live. If a state or country says it’s illegal to wager something of value on gambling, then don’t assume that using virtual coins makes you immune to prosecution.

Conclusion

Bitcoin is a form of virtual currency that’s becoming increasingly accepted by vendors around the globe. This also extends to the world of online gambling, where a small number of card rooms have added the payment method to their list of deposit and withdrawal options. In fact, a handful of such establishments have become Bitcoin poker sites by catering exclusively to users of the digital money.

Players who use Bitcoin to fund their online poker adventures often point to items such as anonymity and increased rakeback when listing advantages. It does, however, require a certain computer I.Q. to use, so the mass of online surfers and social media addicts aren’t likely to make the switch anytime soon.

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